


The Howling Moon

by totemwolfie



Series: The Howling Series [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Blood, Blood and Gore, Boys Kissing, Gay, Gay Love, Gay Sex, M/M, Mad Scientists, Monster Hunters, Stalking, Teenage Werewolves, Teenagers, Urban Fantasy, Werewolf, Werewolf Pack, Werewolves, alpha and omega, gay werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-31
Updated: 2019-06-06
Packaged: 2020-04-05 17:43:21
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19045273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/totemwolfie/pseuds/totemwolfie
Summary: Luke's world is turned upside when he finds out that his brother and his friends are werewolves.





	1. The Wolf Pack

Luke dropped onto the bed, smothering his face in the pillow, while letting out an irritated yell. Outside his closed bedroom door he could hear his mother (adoptive) talking with his father (also adoptive,) about “The Problem That Was Collin,” which was the title of the book he was sure they were writing when it came to trying to reign in his older brother and his “explicit behavior.”

He yelled again before lifting his head to breathe. He sat up, shoving his blond bangs out his soft lavender eyes, and listened. The upstairs floor was quiet, which meant that Dan and Mary had gone downstairs. Luke understood that his older brother was a problem, he was a wild child, and he didn’t seem to care what anyone thought about it. He left at three-in-the-morning, he came home at noon, sometimes he left school before it was out and Luke was stuck walking miles home, and when it was rainy on those days, he really hated his brother.

It was Friday evening so of course Collin was gone again. Mary had taken the keys to his beat-to-shit red Grand Prix and hidden them, but did she not realize Collin had made at least a dozen duplicates? Nothing stopped him from going out, not even his brother.

Luke sighed heavily and closed his eyes. It was just past seven, but he felt like dropping back onto the bed and going to sleep. He had been running on a little less than four hours of sleep for the last six days and it was wearing him down. But he knew the moment his head hit the pillow that the nightmares would start, and shortly afterwards he would wake up sweating and shaking, and then running for the upstairs bathroom where he would throw up until his stomach was empty. 

And Luke would rather be exhausted and crabby than deal with the nightmares and vomiting.

So he stood up and crossed his bedroom, plucking his phone off it’s charger and selecting his “FML” playlist and shoving in a pair of earbuds. As loud, screaming punk rock filled his ears, he grabbed his book bag and unzipped the hidden compartment and pulled out a notebook covered in stickers. He lay down on his bed, stretched out on his belly, and opened the notebook to the sketches he had made earlier that day in study hall.

The lines from his pencil were chaotic and messy, with touches of red ink; the manifestation of his latest nightmare. He didn’t have a name for the creatures from his nightmares. Sometimes they looked like wolves, sometimes like vampires, and sometimes they were xenomorphs or yautja; something Luke recognized from watching too much television or reading too many comic books. Strangely, the dreams with the aliens were less horrifying than the wolves, and Luke could only wonder if it was because he was as mental as his brother.

One night when Collin had left, and he was sure his parents weren’t around to catch him, he had sneaked into his brother’s bedroom. He knew his brother well, and had found hidden in a secret compartment under his desk, old journals. He was looking for something very specific, the journal from a year-and-a-half ago, just before his suicide attempt (Collin had stopped keeping a journal after his recovery, why, Luke didn’t know.) He hadn’t been interested in his brother’s social or love life (Luke knew Collin was gay and had a boyfriend, and he really didn’t need to know about their sex life) what he had been most interested in were the drawings he had made before his attempt.

Because the creatures he had drawn looked exactly like what Luke was drawing every time he woke up.

Now Luke felt like a ticking time bomb and he had no one to talk with about it. He was clearly going through the same motions his brother had. He wasn’t sleeping, he was having nightmares, he had lost weight due to nausea and vomiting, and he found his temper was much shorter than normal. 

It seemed like the kind of thing he should go to his parents about, but that would be worse than the nightmares. Who he wanted to talk to was Collin, but when his brother was around he was he was shut up in his bedroom with the music loud and door locked, which prevented Luke from reaching out to him. Sure, he could just text him, and he had constructed many, many messages in the past, only to delete them at last second.

_Collin, I have a problem. I’m having nightmares like you did before you tried to kill yourself. I’m seeing things, and sometimes I hear things. I feel… sick all the time. Sometimes I think there’s something inside me. I have this growing fear that maybe I’m going down the same path you did. Why are we so fucking crazy? Can you please just stop spending every night with your boyfriend and help me?_

No, absolutely not, he was not going to send that text. Instead he flipped to the next blank page of his notebook and started to write again. Earlier at school he had gone to the library to use the computer and had pulled up a medical website that allowed a person to check their symptoms and get a cursory diagnosis and, as predicted, the results were pretty wide spread but predictable.

He could have food poisoning, or an ulcer, anxiety issues, and of course stomach cancer, because what good medical website didn’t try to convince a person they had cancer? Just reading all the options made him pale and unnerved and he thought maybe he did have something wrong with him, and it was even more of a reason as to why he should go to Dan or Mary for advice. But would he? Absolutely not.

Luke rested his head in his arms, eyes drawn to the window across the room. It was a decent night out, not too hot or humid, and he could see fireflies blinking by the window. He wanted to go out the window and sit out on the roof, just to stare up at the stars, but Dan had nailed the window closed the last time he caught Luke outside. His excuse? He thought Luke was going to try jumping and kill himself. Luke had calmly tried explaining that one: he didn’t want to kill himself, and two: it was a two story drop, he would just break his legs and ribs and not actually die. It hadn’t worked, the couple was still reeling from Collin’s attempt, and the window was now inaccessible.

Rolling over onto his back, set his phone on his chest and folded his arms behind his head. He stared at the ceiling, trying to focus on the loud music in his ears. His room was small, with two windows and plain, white walls. His closet was large enough for his clothes and couple boxes of books and CDs. Hanging over the bed was a bulletin board and it was weighed down every kind of clutter and trinket. A particular photograph caught Luke’s attention. It was an old polaroid of he and Collin, when they were kids. It was a sweet picture, they were both hugging and laughing into the camera. Collin was wearing a ridiculous t-shirt with a surfing penguin on the front. Luke had always loved that shirt, for whatever reason. Maybe because his older brother had looked so cool wearing it.

But there were no new photographs of them together. Two years ago, after Collin turned sixteen, he had started to change. He had grown distant, he developed a horrible temper, and his personality had flipped over onto its head. He snapped at their parents, he snapped at Luke, he was never sleeping and never happy and always looked like he was on the edge of tears and having a complete breakdown. For six months Collin had wasted away and became an entirely different person. It all came to a head when Collin went missing for three days, and when he finally showed up at home he had looked more fragile and vulnerable than Luke had ever seen him. There had been something haunted and absolutely terrified in his dark brown eyes. Not to mention how he looked physically; scratched up and bruised, and extremely thin and pale. Luke had grabbed a blanket, the urgency to grab his brother, wrap him up and keep him safe, took control over his shock and fear. Collin had looked so scared and violated and Luke had wanted to make it better.

To say that their parents had responded badly would be an understatement. Dan had not taken Collin’s obvious terrified state in mind, and the two had sparred, first verbally and then physically. Mary had stood nearby, shouting at Collin because they had reported him missing and thought he was dead in a ditch somewhere. They were so caught up in their own anger that they couldn’t see the pain in Collin’s eyes, the absolutely fear. Luke saw it, he tried to step in and calm the situation, but all he did was get shoved into a wall by Dan and told to shut up.

The day had ended with Luke walking into the downstairs bathroom to find Collin lying across the floor with cuts on his arms and wrists and lying in a pool of blood. Luke remembered that he had been barefoot, and he had stepped in the blood--

His eyes snapped open when the music in his ears stopped and was replaced by his ringtone. He jerked upright in surprise, sending his phone off his chest and onto the floor. He cursed and reached for it, and once he picked it up, flipped it over to see the caller ID.

Collin.

Speak of the devil.

“Yeah?” He answered.

At first he heard nothing but loud music and muffled voices. He was about to hang up, thinking the call had been a mistake, when the commotion suddenly ceased and his brother was answering him.

“Hey,” Collin said, “what’s up?”

 _Why is he calling me? Is he drunk?_ “Why?”

“I just was thinking about you.”

“Are you drunk?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever drunk-called you,” Collin replied.

“That you remember,” Luke said back, his voice a bit more snippy than he meant. He stood and started to pace. “Where are you?”

“Moonbeam.”

Of course, because where else would he be? Moonbeam was a club deep in Pineview City, one of the few that allowed minors and showcased a lot of local musicians. Luke had obviously never been there but he had seen plenty of pictures on Instagram and Snapchat. Honestly the entire establishment looked like a hole in the ground.

He didn’t reply. His brain was still scrambling for a reason why. He stopped pacing and sat down on the bed.

“You still there?”

“Yeah,” he said as he laid back.

“Well, I was going to call it a night early. Were you doing anything?”

Luke frowned at the ceiling. “Have I ever done anything?”

“I thought about getting pizza,” Collin continued. “Want to come along?”

“No.” The words hurt, because he absolutely did want to go along. He wanted to go out for pizza, he wanted time out of the house, he wanted to see his brother for longer than the time it took to drive to school in the morning and pass each other in the hallways.

“Why not?”

“Why are you calling me?” He finally snapped. “All you do is ignore me.”

It was quiet and this time Luke checked to see if he had been hung up on. He ran his hand through his hair and pulled it until it hurt.

Finally his brother said, “Look, Fox and I had a fight, and I just thought we could go out for pizza.”

Fox was Collin’s boyfriend, which is just about everything Luke knew about him. He closed his eyes. “Oh.”

“Please?”

He exhaled loudly. “Fine.”

“Great!” And the fact that Collin sounded actually excited had Luke’s chest aching. “Be there soon, so be ready.”

The call ended and Luke stood up. He was in the same jeans from school earlier that day but he changed his shirt, pulled on his shoes, and as quietly as possible left his room. It was Friday night and as usual his parents were in the living room watching television. Luke tip-toed by the door, avoiding creaky floorboards he had memorized years ago, and went through the house to the back door. As quietly and quickly as possible he creeped outside.

Once he was out he breathed a little easier. Outside the night felt hotter and humid, and fireflies danced around the fenced in backyard while next door the neighbor’s yappy little poodle danced around a tree, barking and growling at shadows.

Luke walked through damp grass to the gate, only to stop when his foot slipped in mud. He looked down as he stepped back, staring at the perfect mold of his sneaker tread in what looked like a giant paw print.

He stepped over it and through the gate, then walked down to the end of the block. Knowing it would be a good twenty minutes before Collin showed up, he sat down on the sidewalk and flipped through his phone, scrolling mindlessly through social media apps. When headlights shined up the street and his brother’s beat-up red Grand Prix started down toward him, Luke jumped to his feet and waved him down.

Luke crossed around to the passenger seat and dropped in. His brother kept his car surprisingly clean, and it smelled like pine and coffee. He clipped on his seatbelt before finally looking over.

Collin was just barely two years older but the differences between them were large. They had the same nose and eye shape, but Collin was tall and willowy, with long hair so pale it looked white and dark brown eyes. He could never manage to tan (much to Collin’s chagrin) and could outrun anyone which had earned him a number of medals in track before his breakdown.

Luke on the other hand was shorter, with slightly wider shoulders, hair blond like the sun and lavender eyes. He wasn’t as athletic as Collin, preferring to read because it helped with his overactive imagination.

“They see you?” Collin asked as he hit the gas, racing the car away from the small two-story house nestled in the middle of The Burns suburb.

“If they had, I wouldn’t be here.”

Collin’s lips twisted into a smirk. “I guess that’s true.”

The drive back into the city was mostly quiet, with Collin singing along to the radio. Luke sat looking at his phone and stealing glances at his brother. Finally he put his phone down and asked, “Did you and Fox actually have a fight?”

“You think I lied to get you out of the house?”

Luke squinted. Collin didn’t look like he’d been crying or angry; his eyeliner wasn’t smeared and he looked calm and happy. “Yeah,” he deadpanned.

Collin huffed a soft laugh. “We _did_ , we just made-up already.”

Luke rolled his eyes. “What did you fight about?”

“Mm, I danced with another guy at the club,” Collin said. “He got jealous.”

“Then why do it?” Luke asked.

“Because I wanted to dance and Fox was too drunk,” he said with an eye roll. 

Luke nodded. “Makes sense. Where is he now?”

“Grey dragged him home.”

Fox and Grey, cousins who lived with Fox’s uncle out in the country. Of his brother’s friend group Luke had seen Grey the most. The senior boy was popular because of his friendly, outgoing and sometimes loud and outlandish personality. He dressed somewhere in between MCR and AFI, and had a mess of monochrome hair and brilliant blue eyes. Of the three boys Grey was the only one who had actually looked at Luke on the rare occasion.

“You’re too young to drink.”

“Yes, mom.”

“I meant,” Luke grumbled, “that if Dan found out—“

“Oh, fuck him,” Collin said as they wove through traffic. “Like he doesn’t get shit-faced every other night.”

Luke gripped his hands together as Collin sped between two cars. He was tempted to ask if Collin had been drinking as well, but he knew that his brother normally drove like a maniac.

But bringing up Dan did have Luke thinking about the trouble he was going to get into. He started to rack his brain for possible punishments, starting with the most extreme (locking him in his bedroom with no form of entertainment, to taking away the PS4 (or worse, destroying it with a baseball bat which was what happened to their last gaming system) to—

“Hello? Earth to Luke, are you there? Do you copy?”

He jumped and blinked, turning to his brother. “What?”

“Wow, you were spaced way out, impressive.”

He frowned and turned his attention out the window. They were in the city now. _Wow, I was really spaced out, wasn’t I?_ Traffic was heavy and the sidewalks filed with people. A city bus pulled up to the bus stop and white taxi-cabs zipped around cars.

“So, where are we going?” He finally asked after a long period of silence.

“Casablanca’s,” Collin said as they turned down a congested street. He flipped the blinker and swerved down an alley. When they exited the other side it was onto a less busy street and directly in front of a brick building with a small sign over the black door.

“Is it good? Sounds weird. Like, organic, cauliflower-crust, goat cheese weird.”

Collin laughed loudly as he parked. He picked up his phone to read and reply to a text. “It’s not quite that pompous, if that’s what you mean. It’s delicious, I promise. Let’s go.”

Luke darted after Collin and into the restaurant, which was a lot smaller than Luke would have guessed. He fidgeted, looking around at the simple decor, most of it very film noir with red checkered tablecloths and candles on the tables.

They were seated in a booth in the back and again Luke watched Collin pull out his phone to text. This time though he took a selfie with the menu.

“What the hell are you doing?” 

“Rubbing it in Fox’s face,” he said with a smug grin. 

Luke leaned back, watching as his brother sent off the photo, and then set his phone down. Knowing this was his chance to talk to his brother about everything that had been weighing on him, Luke worked at summoning the courage. He inhaled deeply, drummed his fingers on the table—

“What’s wrong with you?” Collin asked, interrupting his thoughts. “I know you’re a bit of a recluse but we’re just out for pizza.”

Luke frowned and sat back. “I am not a recluse.”

“You never leave your room or do anything.”

“How would you know when you’re never there?” He snapped back.

Collin opened his mouth to reply when the waiter arrived at the table. He scowled daggers are his younger brother before turning to the man. Without asking Luke for his opinion he ordered a large, stuffed crust bacon cheeseburger pizza with side salads, and breadsticks. To drink he ordered them both soda.

Luke was frowning, but for a new reason. When the waiter walked away he asked, “You remember my favorite pizza?”

“Yeah, how could I forget? It comes with pickles on it, that’s more disgusting than any other topping.”

“The hell it is! Pineapple on pizza is the most disgusting thing ever,” he argued while leaning forward. “Talk about vomit.”

“I’m sorry if you’re taste buds are too stupid to appreciate the gift that is Hawaiian style pizza.”

“My taste buds aren’t as stupid as yours.”

Collin’s faux anger broke and he laughed, leaning back. Luke followed suit, laughing until he was wiping his eyes. It was just the kind of stupid argument they always used to have. In fact, Luke was sure that they had had this one many times before.

He felt the ache in his chest loosen and the tension lift from his shoulders. Luke pushed his hand through his overgrown bangs, pushing them out of his eyes, and looked at his brother, actually looking _at_ him. He looked good; healthy and happy, but there was a vulnerability there that Luke hated to see. He wore far too many bracelets on his wrists to hide scars that had never healed, and a t-shirt that had a metal band logo on the front.

“Collin, why did you want to hang out? Honestly.”

Collin shrugged. “Can’t I want to hang out with you?”

“Historically? No.”

He snorted a laugh. “Rude.” He waved his hand dismissively. “Fine. I’m worried about you.”

Luke tensed and squeezed his hands together nervously. “What? Why?”

Collin gestured at him. “You’ve lost weight. You aren’t sleeping and when you do, you’re waking up constantly, and you’ve been a little dick.”

“I’ll give you the first two but I have not been a dick,” Luke argued as he crossed his arms over his chest. He stared down at the table, letting the silence stretch between them. When he looked up finally, he met Collin’s eyes. He sighed. “Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?”

“Are you thinking about killing yourself?”

He started somewhat. “No!” He yelled a bit forcefully. He lowered his voice and continued. “No, of course not. It’s just a lot of nightmares and weird pains.”

“Tell me everything.”

“Yeah, no.”

“Why the hell not?”

Now that he had the chance to share everything, he felt suddenly self-conscious and nervous. He shrugged. “Because it’s probably nothing. Puberty.”

“You’re sixteen.”

“Late puberty.”

“I know you hit puberty.”

“That’s gross that you know that.”

“Luke, I’m here, wanting to help. Are you going to let me, or are you going to push me away?” Collin asked seriously.

Luke glanced by him and saw the waiter approaching with their order. He bit his lip before answering, “Can we eat first?”

“Sure,” Collin said as his eyes lit up at the sight of food. He thanked the waiter before filling up his plate. “This looks pretty good for something absolutely ruined by fucking pickles.”

…

After gorging on pizza and breadsticks, Collin paid the bill and they left. It was getting late, but the traffic in Pinewood City wasn’t any lighter, which was fine, they still had a lot to talk about.

Because there was absolutely no denying it: Luke smelled like a werewolf. An extremely adolescent werewolf, who’s scent was just starting to change and lose its human qualities, but it was there. And if Collin could pick it up in a busy pizza place as easily as he could at home, then it meant that other werewolves could, too. Which meant it was time to bring his little brother into the pack, and by doing so break the news.

_Congratulations! You’re a werewolf! Have some cake._

“So,” he said as they stopped for another long red light. “Spill it.”

Luke’s mouth twisted and he let out a little huff. “What?”

“I’m not letting you off the hook,” he pressed. “So tell me what’s going on.”

Luke was quiet for a few minutes, sitting completely still with his hands clamped together, before he answered, “I’m having nightmares every night. Really horrible ones. And I hurt… all over. It’s fucking weird. It’s either my head, or my stomach, or I wake up feeling like I was beaten in my sleep.”

“How often do you wake up feeling beaten?”

“I mean… it wasn’t a lot… maybe once a month? But I feels like I wake up feeling that way more often. It goes away,” he quickly added, “I down some ibuprofen and the pain goes away.”

Collin glanced at him. Luke was thinner than he remembered, with dark circles under his eyes and lips raw from constantly being chewed. “How do you feel right now?”

“Um, fine I guess,” he said. “Really good, actually.”

“Because you ate.”

“What?”

“Good pizza always makes you feel better,” Collin said with an easy shrug, but it wasn’t quite that simple. Luke’s body was getting ready for it’s first transformation, and the less Luke ate, and the more weight he lost, the worse the change would be on him physically, mentally, and it could result in him doing terrible things.

Things that Collin had done, and he was determined his younger brother not suffer the same way he did. He exhaled and ran his hands over to the steering wheel. “Want to get some ice cream before we head home?”

Luke looked up from his phone. “We literally just ate.”

“So you’re saying no?”

“I didn’t say that.”

As he drove them to to Dairy Queen, and pulled into place in the drive-thru line, he asked, “Anything else going on?”

Luke shrugged. “I’m just sad all the time.”

The words were quiet, and broken, and it caught Collin off guard. He turned to look at him, only Luke was looking out the window. He felt his chest tighten and guilt flood through him. “Luke--”

“Don’t worry about it,” he interrupted. “I’m okay. Hey, pull up, we’re next.”

Collin frowned as he pulled the car forward. “Look, I don’t want you to go through what I did--I mean, I don’t want you to deal with this alone.”

“And what is _‘this_?’” Luke asked.

Now would be a good time to tell him, Collin knew, but he wasn’t going to blurt it out. _You’re a werewolf, I’m a werewolf, apparently our parents were werewolves and for whatever reason abandoned us to be raised by humans._ Nope, that wasn’t going to work. He needed to regain his brother’s trust, not say things that might make Luke think he was being made fun of. “Mental health issues, obviously,” he said. “We’re all fucked up in the head.”

“Everyone is fucked up in the head,” Luke replied as he leaned forward to look at the glowing menu board. Even though they had literally gorged on pizza and breadsticks, he was feeling hungry again. He focussed on his options, and not his brother, who was staring at him with concern. Luke sighed. “Don’t… make a big deal, okay?”

Collin shifted so he could pull his wallet out of his pocket. “Fine,” he said. They pulled up to the two-way speaker. He ordered himself a medium Caramel MooLatte because there was never a bad time for coffee, and then looked at his brother expectantly.

“S’mores blizzard,” he requested, “medium.”

Once their ice cream was acquired they headed for home. Collin insisted on a bite from Luke’s blizzard and in return offered him a drink from his shake. Luke wrinkled his nose, coffee in ice cream did quite fit his palate. 

Luke thumbed through his phone as he ate, humming thoughtfully. “I’m kind of worried that they haven’t called to see where I am.”

“They probably haven’t noticed,” he said with a snort.

“That’s probably true,” he murmured. He sat back with a little sound, kicking off his shoes and pulling his feet up onto the seat. He licked the ice cream off his spoon before glancing at his brother again. “Hey um, thanks for tonight. It was a lot of fun.”

“We’ll have to hang out more often,” Collin suggested, “you’re not as lame as I remember.”

“You’re an ass.”

“No, seriously,” he said with a grin. “Want to come out to Fox’s with me tomorrow?”

Luke frowned. “Why… would I want to hang out at your boyfriend’s house?”

“Why not? The others will be there,” Collin said. He turned off the headlights halfway up the block and carefully guided his car down the street before stopping it at the curb outside the house. The lights were on in the living room and kitchen. If his memory served him right, then Dan and Mary should be in the living room watching whatever Friday night talent or singing competition was on television. Dan was most certainly drunk and paying more attention to his laptop, and Mary would be drinking red wine and shouting her opinions at the television.

Luke followed Collin across the yard to the back door, slipping inside as quietly as they could, skipping around squeaky floorboards, until they were safely upstairs. Before Luke could reach his bedroom Collin grabbed his arm and dragged him into his own. Luke frowned, but didn’t object, and went to sit on the bed while he finished his ice cream.

Collin tossed his empty cup into the trash can by the door and then locked the bedroom door. “So? You didn’t give me an answer.”

“I’ll think on it,” Luke said, because he was one-hundred-percent positive that Collin’s invitation would be revoked by the morning. He also wasn’t so sure about hanging out with his brother’s boyfriend and friends. Fox had always been nice enough, but the older boy had never gone out of his way to talk to him. Raven literally went out of his way to avoid everyone, and Grey, well, he was a force of nature and sometimes Luke found himself around the exuberant boy, and while they had never had an actual conversation, Grey had always been kind.

Collin, after changing into sweatpants and a galaxy hoodie, grabbed his laptop and dropped down onto the bed. “Okay, what are we watching?”

“We’re watching a movie now?” Luke asked as he tossed his empty cup into the trash can. At his brother’s shrug, he continued, “Pick out something, I’m gonna change.”

Collin sat up, and after Luke left the room, grabbed his cell phone, sending a text to Fox.

**Collin (10:53pm) _I’m going to bring Luke by tomorrow._**

**Fox (10:56pm) _So Raven was right?_**

**Collin (10:57pm) _Looks like it. But don’t tell him that. He can fuck himself._**

**Fox (10:59pm) _LMAO okay. See you tomorrow <3 love you._**

He had lifted the phone, about to take a selfie to send back, when Luke stepped back into the room. He had changed into Pokemon pajama pants and a plain black tank top. Collin moved over. “Come here, take a selfie with me.”

Luke wrinkled his nose. “What? Why?”

“Just come here,” he insisted, reaching out to grab his slender wrist and tug him down. Luke sat uncomfortably next to him, staring at the phone. Collin rolled his eyes. “I’m sending it to Fox, so stop looking like I’m torturing you.”

Luke sighed and offered a nervous smile, which made Collin laugh. Once the picture was taken, he moved over and grabbed the laptop to see that his brother had not picked a movie. He took it upon himself, going through option after option, while Collin typed furiously on his phone, a grin on his face.

“Don’t like, post that on any social media please,” he requested.

Collin barked a laugh. “I’m gonna plaster your ugly face all over Instagram.”

Luke had seen his brother’s Instagram, it was filled with disgustingly affectionate pictures of him and Fox, his friends, the forest around Pineview City, and his brother’s aesthetics, artwork, and their makeshift band. “You better not.”

“Relax, I’d hate to lose followers,” he said and stuck out his tongue.

“If people were going to unfollow you, it would be because you’re so damn vain,” Luke muttered as he selected a movie. “Do you really have to post so many selfies? Look, it’s me and a tree. It’s me standing by the river. It’s me in the river. It’s me--” 

Collin tackled him, clamping his hand over Luke’s mouth. “Shut up! I am not like that at all!”

Luke squirmed out from beneath him. “Whatever you say.”

Collin shoved him before dropping onto the bed and grabbing the laptop. “What stupid movie did you pick?”

“It’s not stupid, it’s a classic,” Luke said defensively.

“Mad Max? I guess I can’t argue with that,” he said with an over-dramatic sigh. He reached up to flip off the light and then stretched out. After a minute Luke did the same, lying not too close, and rather tense. But twenty-minutes into the movie Luke was shifting around, dragging the blanket up, grabbing a pillow, and relaxing.

Collin watched the movie, but he watched Luke closer. Before the end credits started Luke was asleep, curled up and gripping the pillow, his nose pressed into it. Collin closed the laptop and set it on the floor before getting under the blankets and lying on his side, staring at Luke’s face.

He was quiet, and his face mostly peaceful. Luke’s sunny-blond hair was a mess on the pillow and his fingers were curled tight into the fabric. It reminded Collin of when they were much younger and Luke would crawl into bed with him after a nightmare. His face was soft, still boyish, but there was stress etched across his features. He frowned in his sleep, but quickly calmed when he pressed his face into the pillow and inhaled. 

Collin rolled onto his back and stared thoughtfully at the ceiling. As he suspected, just being close and sharing blankets calmed the monster inside of his brother. Werewolves, like wolves, were pack animals, and they functioned better together. Even Collin felt more relaxed being close to his brother; he felt warm and safe, but not only that, he felt a protective intensity building up inside him. Luke might not know what he was yet, but the wolf inside Collin did: he was the pack’s puppy and his younger brother, and he would do anything to protect him.

…

In the morning the bed shifted and Collin felt Luke slip out from under his arm, get out of bed, and leave the room. Collin yawned and sat up just as Luke came back, peering into the bedroom. “Did I wake you?” he whispered as he stepped back in, closing the door.

“Nope,” he said as he yawned again. His stomach was growling and he needed coffee, ASAP. He grabbed his phone and saw he had missed several text messages from Fox, including a selfie of him shirtless in bed. “So, you want to hang out today?”

Luke laid down at the foot of the bed. He felt great, refreshed. He hadn’t had one bad dream, and the one time he had woken up was because Collin had rolled over and cuddled against him in his sleep. At first it had been weird, but it made him think of when they were little kids, sharing a bed, curling up together when they had nightmares, and staying up all night talking and making up stories of who their real parents were.

“You still wanted to?” he asked as he pushed his hand through his messy hair.

Collin waved his phone in Luke’s face. “Yup. Fox said the pack is up, we can head over whenever.”

Luke wrinkled his nose. “The pack? Is that like, you’re weird group name?”

“Yeah, it’s what we call ourselves,” he answered sarcastically as he sat up, shoving the blankets onto Luke’s face. “Shut up. I’m going to shower and we can take off.”

Luke sat up, pushing the blankets off him. He watched as Collin sat up and stretched, twisting his spine until it popped. Then he was grabbing clean clothes and leaving the room. Luke stood and went to his bedroom to change out of his pajamas. Anxiety started to bubble up inside him and he started to panic. His brain scrambled to come up with excuses as to why he shouldn’t go along. The best one he could come up with was ‘I have a lot of homework and a report to write’ but he knew that that would never work on his brother.

While he fretted he pulled up Collin’s Instagram and frowned. He _had_ posted the picture of the two of them from last night, and it had fifty likes, including comments from Fox and Grey, consisting of emojis.

“Ready to go?”

He jumped in surprise as Collin stepped into his bedroom. “Ever heard of knocking?” He snapped before holding up his phone for Collin to see the screen. “I asked you not to do this.”

“Did you?” He asked innocently as he finished braiding his long hair and tied it off at the end. “Must not have been listening to you.”

“What do these mean?” He asked.

Collin squinted at the mess is emojis left by Grey. Thumbs up, happy face, a wolf, more thumbs up. “With Grey, who knows,” he said. “Fox likes the picture.”

Luke scrunched his nose. “Why?”

“Because it’s a good picture?”

“Are you… are you really sure this is okay? They’re your friends, not mine. They’ve never even talked to me!” He insisted. “Is this some kind of prank?”

“When have I ever pranked you?” Collin asked, irritated. He rested his hands on his hips and cocked his head. “We done with this? Let’s go.”

Luke chewed his lower lip before caving. He grabbed his phone and tugged on his shoes before he followed Collin downstairs. 

“What about them?” Like whispered as they headed downstairs.

“Don’t worry about it,” Collin said. When they passed through the kitchen, Mary was up doing the dishes but he didn’t see Dan. “Luke and I are going out for the day. Hold my calls.”

Luke ran after his brother to the car and quickly hopped in the passenger seat. He kept his head down, refusing to look up where he knew Mary was watching from the kitchen window. He was going to be in such deep shit and quickly turned his phone on silent—

Collin peeled away from the curb and out of the neighborhood, heading for be exit ramp that would put them on the interstate and away from the suburbs and city. Before that, however, they had a very important stop to make.

When they pulled into the line at the Starbucks drive-thru Luke rolled his eyes. “Has anyone ever told you that you have a problem?”

“So that translates to ‘no, I don’t want a free breakfast?’”

“I didn’t say that.”

After placing their order for two iced vanilla lattes and bacon, egg and cheese bagels, they continued to wait in line. Collin was drumming his hands on the steering wheel and singing along to the radio. Luke got bored of looking at his phone and instead looked around him. Hanging from the rearview mirror was a cluster of items. There was a dream catcher, a rainbow lei, an air freshener and a necklace with a silver arrowhead hanging from it. Luke reached up to touch it.

“I can’t remember where I bought that,” Colin said as he reached up to untangle it from the mirror. “Take it.”

“Oh—“ he said, surprised. “You sure? It’s really nice.”

“If I didn’t want to give it to you, I wouldn’t haven’t offered,” Collin pointed out.

Luke dropped the necklace over his head and tucked it into his t-shirt. Then a bag of food was being handed to him, along with a drink. Honestly he had never had a iced latte before, but Collin drank them like he needed them to survive.

The rest of the drive was quiet, until they had finished their breakfast and Collin started to sing again. The drive out to Fox’s was surprisingly long, and would have been longer had his brother stuck to the actual speed limit.

“So,” Luke started, interrupting Collin’s singing, “his parents don’t mind us just showing up?”

“Fox lives with his uncle, and he’s out of the country on business.”

“Oh.” How convenient. “And it’s… Fox and Grey who live here?”

“Raven, too,” Collin said.

“How does that work?”

“Why don’t you ask him that,” Collin suggested as he turned up the music.

Luke looked away, staring out the window. He knew better than to get within five feet of Raven Ivoryhorn. The extremely introverted teenager wasn’t one to start fights or talk to anyone, but Luke had seen what he had done to a couple bullies who had tried to fuck with his long black hair. 

A sudden exit off Interstate 50 snapped Luke out of his thoughts. They sped away from the busy traffic onto a short strip of highway until Collin took another exit, this one for Chesapeake Road. The road was narrow and dirt, and surrounded on both sides by towering trees. 

Luke was about to ask if the road lead to a dead-end and Collin was actually determined to be an only child, when they slowed for a turn and the road was no longer a road, but a driveway leading up to a two-story white house in a clearing, which was surrounded by trees. 

Collin pulled up to the house and parked in a gravel area where there were two other vehicles. Luke unbuckled his seatbelt as nervous butterflies started to churn his stomach again. Suddenly he wished he hadn’t drank all that coffee.

The house was normal enough. The white paint was peeling, the windows were old; there was a large covered porch that spread across the entire front. When Luke got out of the car he heard two dogs barking from the backyard, which was fenced in, along with most of the North side. The two fluffy Siberian huskies continued to bark and howl, while their tails wagged furiously.

“Those are Grey’s dogs,” Collin said as he walked up to the house, Luke just behind him. “Dunri and Dashi.”

“What kind of names are those?”

“Hell if I know,” he chuckled as he pulled open the front door, which creaked loudly. 

“Shouldn’t you knock?” Like asked worriedly, but when Collin ignored him and left him outside, he saw no choice but to follow. The front entryway opened between the living room and kitchen, which were separated by a large dining room table and six chairs. The kitchen was medium-sized, with white cabinets with hardwood countertops and a white brick backsplash. The appliances were older, and with wood floors and a black and white rug under the dining room table. The living room was larger, with brown carpet and an old, large brown couch and two matching sitting chairs with plush pillows and blankets folded on them. There was a large entertainment system cluttered with gaming systems, games, books, with a large flat screen TV above it on the wall. There were windows looking out into the front yard and another window at the far end, looking out towards the forest and then a hallway. Directly ahead of them was a stairway and there was a door in the kitchen leading out to the backyard where the two dogs were still barking.

“Anybody home?” Collin called out.

A door opened from down the hallway and one of the house’s occupants joined them. Luke recognized Grey, who’s blue eyes lit up at the sight of them. “Luke, what a surprise,” he said with an easy smile. Of the group Grey was the most well-known and friendly, not to mention a massive and shameless flirt. His hair was long, hanging down past his shoulders, and was colored black, grey and white. All the monotone colors and black eyebrows made his blue eyes all the more bright and playful; he was strong, his arms well toned and his shoulders wide. He was currently barefoot and wearing jeans and a black muscle shirt that was tight and had a jaguar on the front. 

When his blue eyes swept over Luke, he swallowed hard. “Hey.”

Collin glanced up the stairs as Grey walked through the kitchen to let the two dogs in before they clawed their way through the door. When the two dogs went straight for Luke, excitedly barking and tackling him, he darted up the stairs, following the heady, alluring scent of werewolf.

He went to the first door on the right and entered without knocking. The teenager sitting at the desk looked up when Collin stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. The desk was covered in textbooks and papers, along with things others may considered odd, like bones and feathers. There were also two empty coffee cups and a half-empty can of Red Bull. 

“And Luke says I drink too much caffeine,” Collin said with a grin.

Fox laughed as he stood up. He and Collin were nearly the same height, putting them both slightly taller than Grey. Fox had medium-length brown hair that was currently pulled back in a bun. His skin was tanned, his eyes a brilliant green, and he had a smile that melted Collin’s heart.

“You got him to come along?” Fox asked as he greeted the other boy with a kiss.

“Barely,” Collin said. He nuzzled Fox’s cheek and sighed, soaking in the heavy scent of alpha werewolf. It was woods and musk; all male wolf and deep forest. “He thinks I brought him out here to prank him. Maybe even kill him, but he didn’t say as much, but I saw a worried look in his eyes.”

Fox laughed. “Well, you did leave him along with Grey and the dogs.”

“If anyone can break him out of his shell, it’s Grey,” Collin said as he sat down on the bed. 

Fox sat down next to him. “I don’t even need to go downstairs, I can smell him on you. What’s your plan?”

It was hard to think about when Fox was running his hand up his thigh. “I don’t know,” he finally answered as he looked away from Fox’s dimples and the light freckles across his nose and cheeks. He cleared his throat and turned his attention to a tapestry on the wall. “He doesn’t trust me, not really, so I need gain that. I can’t just tell him that he’s a werewolf. Then he will think I’m pranking him. I spent so much time in denial that he was like me that I just… pushed him away. Now I need to fix being a horrible brother.”

Fox wrapped his fingers around Collin’s wrist and turned it over before bowing his head and pressing his lips against the white scars that never healed. “You didn’t want him to go through what you did. And Raven could have been wrong.”

“Did you ever really believe he was wrong?”

He exhaled. “No.”

Collin sighed. “Where is Raven, anyway?”

“Out as usual,” Fox said as he stood and went to look out the window. “And you aren’t a horrible brother, Collin. You were just doing what you thought was best. We’ve all done that. We’ve all pushed away the people that love us just to keep them safe. But it’s not too late, Collin. Luke’s still young, he barely smells of like a werewolf, we have lots of time to earn his trust, and break the truth to him. He won’t go through it alone.”

Collin tugged on his braided hair before he stood. “When I think about what I went through… Fox, I almost doomed him to that. If he hadn’t showed any signs before I moved out, he would have suffered just like me.”

“Yeah, but that didn’t happen,” Fox reminded him gently. He saw the dogs cross the yard, followed by Grey and Luke. With the window open he could smell Luke’s soft wolf scent and Grey’s heavy omega musk. “Come on, let’s go down and see what they’re up to.”

…

“So you and Fox are cousins?” Luke asked as he picked up a squeaky ball and threw it for the dogs.

“It's not quite that simple,” Grey answered. “We aren’t related by blood or family at all. Fox’s uncle took in me and Raven when we were kids.”

“So you’re what, adopted?” He asked as he turned around.

“It’s complicated,” Grey said with a little grin. He gestured to the forest lying just beyond the fence and yard. “Do you like hiking?”

The house was nestled off the main interstate and just on the edge of Pineview National Park. The park and forest were just under five-thousand square miles, and stretched all the way to the mountains. There were waterfalls and canyons; lakes, hidden caves and many miles of woodland never touched by human hikers, who stayed mostly to the West, closer to the mountains and the more attractive scenery. Living just outside the National Park meant that the pack had free-range of their woodland territory, which included two new campgrounds, but they were far enough away that the pack didn’t worry about stray hikers. 

“I’ve never done it,” Luke said. “We don’t do um, family trips or vacations.”

“We could go out later, if you wanted to. The dogs love it.”

Luke glanced over his shoulder at the trees. From this angle all he could see was a thick, impenetrable border of trees, deciduous mixed with coniferous. It didn't look scary from here, other than the sheer size of the trees swaying gently in the wind. But beyond that? What was out there?

He felt something tighten in his chest, akin to anxiety, but not to stay away from the trees, but to get closer. An ache inside spread and he felt the queer urge to run straight into parts unknown.

“Maybe,” he finally answered quietly.

“What are you guys up to?” Collin called as he and Fox crossed the yard. Immediately the dogs rushed him and he easily scooped Dashi up onto his arms, letting the dog lick his face.

“Just talking,” Grey said from where he sat on the top of the picnic table. “Whose hungry? I’m starving.”

“You’re always hungry,” Collin said as he let the dog go.

“I’m a growing boy.”

Fox cocked his head, staring at Luke. He was shorter than Collin, but he was lean, with bright blond hair that was cut close on the sides and thick and wavy on top. The energy he was throwing off was nervous, but he expected that. When Luke turned to look at him, he stepped back.

Fox remembered the first time he had met the younger teen. It was in the hospital after Collin’s suicide attempt, after his first moon cycle alone. Luke has been younger and smaller, and completely broken by his brother’s near death. Fox felt guilt rising in his stomach. He had had a chance then to befriend and comfort him, but he hadn’t.

“Hey Luke,” he greeted. 

Luke raised his hand in a nervous wave. “Hey.” The way Fox has looked at him had sent a jolt through him, like the other boy had looked straight into him. It was uncomfortable and unnerving. He knew Fox wasn’t a bully or some weirdo, but the way he had sized him up had Like feeling on edge. “Nice place.”

“Yeah,” Fox said with an easy smile. Luke was nervous, and Fox knew that the young werewolf had no idea why. Unlike the rest of them, Luke was too young to be assigned a rank in the pack, but that didn’t mean he didn’t sense an alpha wolf when standing this close to one. “Have you met everyone?”

“Uh,” Luke said as he looked around, “everyone but Raven.”

Grey made a sound. “You don’t need to meet him.”

“He’s not that bad,” Fox tried to reason. He looked at Collin. “Right?”

Collin arched an eyebrow and didn’t answer, instead he walked over to Grey and sat next to him on the table.

Fox cleared his throat. “You’ll get used to him.”

“But he might not get used to you,” Grey added, prompting Collin to hit his shoulder. “What? You two fight like wolverines.”

“Animal, not mutant.”

“Thanks for the clarification, Fox.”

Luke distracted himself by leaning down to pet one of the dogs, but as he did, he carefully watched the three. Collin was vibrant around them; he never stopped smiling. When Fox would get close or reach out to touch him, even subtly on the hand or arm, he would blush and get a warm, lovesick look in his eyes.

He felt his stomach drop. _This_ was his brother’s family. He saw why he was always here, always sneaking out to be with them. They made him happy, they made him laugh; Fox had gotten him through his suicide attempt and Grey was a warm shoulder to lean on. He didn’t know where Raven factored into this if all they did was fight, but he must hold a special place in his brother’s heart.

Luke looked down at the dog, he had no idea which one it was, as he struggled to hold back tears. It was foolish that he felt like crying, but he couldn’t figure out why _he_ had been brought here. These weren’t his friends; this wasn’t his family.

“Luke?” Collin asked from where the three were sitting together. “You all right?”

Thankfully the dog licked him across the face, and he stood up wiping the slobber off with his hand. “Yeah. Why?”

Collin’s dark brown eyes shined with flecks of gold in the bright sunlight. “You hungry?”

Surprisingly he was. “Yeah.”

“Come inside and help me peel potatoes.”

“What?” He huffed. “Seriously?”

“Let’s go, Boy Scout,” Grey said as he sprang off the table, looped his arm with Luke’s, and dragged him toward the house, “I’ll help you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *deep breath* I took the Howling Series down a couple months ago to rewrite it. I've been writing about these guys since I was just out of high school, and I haven't been in high school for a REALLY long time. There are fourteen stories to this series, from full books, to PWPs and short stories. With any luck, I'll hang onto some creativity and continue to work on rewriting this book so I can get it posted. I would like to post a chapter a week, but with the way things have been going, it looks like it'll be a chapter a month lol. I'm doing a lot of rewriting, changing character backgrounds, adding new characters, all kinds of shit that means it will change all future books and stories. I would suggest checking my tumblr for updates and follow The Howling Series tag. And I'll be updating the tags here as I update.
> 
> Your comments and kudos are so very much appreciated, especially for original work.
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr! https://softwolffeathers.tumblr.com/


	2. Black Moon Dancing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Early update :) And thank you for all your wonderful comments! xoxo

Luke had never been anywhere so beautiful in his life. After going inside to help peel and chop potatoes and onions with Grey, while Fox and Collin got the steaks ready, he had listened to the chatter between the three of them. It had been light and casual; talking about songs and movies, future concerts at Moonbeam. Luke saw the way Fox and Collin looked and touched each other, and had a suspicion that they were being so subtle because of him.

Which was okay, he really didn’t need to see them make out.

And while Grey worked at trying to include him in the conversations, there wasn’t a lot that he could contribute. When he had told the other boy that he had never been to a concert Grey had grabbed his chest and nearly fallen over from the shock. When Luke had followed up that up with ‘I haven’t even gone to the zoo in live seven years,’ the other teenager had checked Luke’s wrist for a pulse.

“He’s a bit of a hermit,” Collin had chimed in.

“I am not,” Luke had argued back. “I’m just—introverted.”

“Grey is an extrovert to the extreme,” Fox pointed out. 

“That’s a shock,” Luke had said, which had made Grey laugh and bump their shoulders. 

Now he was outside, enjoying some quiet time to himself and snapping photos with his phone. Okay, so maybe he understood why Collin posted dozens of pictures when he was out here. It was amazingly serene and photogenic. Not that he hadn’t seen Pineview Forest before, it did circle around and surround Pineview City, making the city absolutely unique. The trees pushed into the city, making it shaped into a giant horseshoe. The areas of forest in the city had been tamed down and carved up over the years, now home to city parks, sports fields, and even a couple of lakes, but they still held a certain wildness to them. Luke had been to the city parks for various school activities and field trips, but nothing compared to the majesty and awe of what he sat looking at right now. It really was wild out here. Amazing.

Luke’s lavender-shaded eyes drank in all the details, and he wished he was more of an artist like his brother, so he could capture what he was seeing in front of him. His phone just couldn’t appreciate the beauty that was in front of him. There were too many shades of green, the sky was too brilliant a blue; the clouds too fluffy and perfect, the land too detailed. Every picture he took was incredibly lacking.

“You don’t have trees back home?” Grey teased.

Luke rolled his eyes and turned around to face Grey, who was standing closer to him. “Yeah, obviously,” he said. “But this is like, wild.”

Grey laughed and cocked his head. The sunglasses he was wearing were shaped like hearts, and he had tied his wild mane of hair back into a ponytail. “Wild is a perfect description,” he agreed. 

“Do you see a lot of wildlife out here?” he asked as Grey lifted the hood to the grill and checked the food.

“Yeah, a lot,” he hummed.

“Like?” he encouraged curiously.

Grey’s lips twitched into a little smile. “Well, let’s see. I’ve seen deer and elk, once a moose. There are foxes and racoons, bears--”

“Bears?” Luke repeated with a little start. “You’ve actually see a wild bear by your house?”

“They don’t get very close to the house,” Grey said. _For reasons you don’t yet understand._ “Why, you scared of bears, Goldilocks?”

“Wouldn’t it be stupid to not be scared of bears?”

“Touche.” Grey closed the grill and turned around, crossing his arms over his chest. “There are much scarier things out there than bears, Luke.”

Luke looked at him out of the corner of his eye. “Like what?”

“Things you don’t see until it’s too late.”

He snorted. “Ha ha, you’re funny.”

Grey shook his head, blue eyes suddenly set and serious. “No, I’m serious. I haven’t like, seen it, but there is something out there. It comes out at night, and sometimes I hear a scratching outside my window.”

Luke frowned. “It’s probably like, a bird.”

“It’s not a bird,” he insisted. “I’ve seen tracks. Raven can track things, okay, it’s like the only thing he’s good at. But even he can’t figure out what it is. And the campers at Sunny Dials have reported seeing things, too. People have even gone missing.”

“I haven’t… heard anything on the news,” Luke tried to reason. 

“I know, isn’t that the scariest part of it?” Grey whispered as he turned his attention to the trees. “What if it’s some kind of government coverup? They know something is out there, but they just can’t find it.”

Luke felt a shiver rush up his spine. He was turning to follow Grey’s gaze when he saw the other boy’s lips twitch. He reached out and smacked his arm. “You’re fucking with me!”

Grey laughed loudly, stepping away and holding up his hand. “It was too easy, Luke. Too easy!”

“I totally knew you were lying,” Luke insisted. “I-I knew it.”

“I totally got you, Goldilocks,” Grey said with a low, rumbling laugh as he reached out to rough up Luke’s hair. 

Luke flushed, but he didn’t feel stupid or embarrassed, which was usually his first reaction when people joke around with him, because it usually meant he was being made fun of. But he didn’t think Grey was that cruel. His smile was genuine and he looked like he was honestly having fun. When Grey stepped close again, Luke pushed at his shoulder. “You’re full of lies, aren’t you? You probably don’t even go out there.”

Grey pushed Luke back before leaning against the table. “No, we do go out all the time. I can navigate this forest better than my bedroom closet. I was serious earlier, we can go out later if you want to. We might see something cool.”

Luke could just about imagine the mess that was Grey’s closet. “Like what?”

“If I tell you, it won’t be a surprise.”

“I hate surprises.”

He smiled. “There’s a canyon about two miles in. The land drops straight down into an open valley. There’s a beach and a small lake there. We spend a lot of time up on the outcrop, it’s rocky and flat and you can see for miles when the weather is clear. It’s beautiful, and no one knows about it but us.”

Luke shook his head. “I get lost driving around the city, how can you possibly get through all that?”

Grey patted his back. “Typical blond.”

He scowled. “You know that dying your hair too much kills brain cells.”

“It’s sweet that you assume I have brain cells to kill.”

Luke watched as Grey headed for the house, saying he was suddenly hungry for grilled shrimp and thought they had some in the freezer in the basement. He looked for the dogs, seeing that they were both asleep in the shade of the house. He stood, stepping off the picnic table and into the short cut grass. He was leaning on the gate, looking into the trees, when he saw a deer and her fawn pass through the trees.

With a jump Luke glanced back at the house, before quietly opening the gate and stepping out. He told himself that as long as he stayed close to the edge and could see the house that he would be safe. He was sure there were other wild animals out here, but the forest was huge! Why would anything other than deer lurk near a human home? His curiosity got the best of him, and the strange ache from before started to build inside him again. He wanted to see the trees, he wanted to know what it was like to be…free. 

He looked back several times, to make sure the house was still in sight, as he stepped through the trees. It was surprisingly open here, the trees were tall with branches spread overhead like a canopy; leaves blocked out the sun and yet it wasn’t dark here either. The ground was covered in heavy ferns and fallen branches; pine cones and acorns, and miscellaneous fauna that Luke couldn’t begin to identify. He stopped to listen for the deer, but all he heard as the wind in the trees and the sound of birds high in the canopy.

He walked around a tree and heard something moving through the ferns. He turned, heart stopping in his chest, and found himself staring at a white-tailed deer, but it wasn’t the doe and fawn from earlier, but a young buck. He was delicate and had a small rack of antlers. The deer stared at him with huge black eyes, and for a second, neither deer nor human moved. It felt like an eternity, but it all happened in a couple precious seconds.

Something rushed from behind him, around the trees and through the brush, and hit Luke in the back. Whatever it was knocked him face-first into the hard ground and knocked the breath from his lungs. He heard a loud commotion and covered his head as he felt the ground shake from the deer’s hooves as it bolted away. There was still a weight on his legs and Luke kicked and twisted, rolling over and shoving himself up into a sitting position, and found himself inches from the snarling teeth of the biggest, blackest wolf he had ever seen.

He didn’t remember the wolves at the wildlife park looking this big. 

The world slowed, his heart stopped, the air around him was sucked away and everything simply froze. The wolf was like a hole in space, solid black with two piecing blue-grey eyes that glowed. It’s muzzle was pulled back to reveal massive white teeth and when it growled, Luke jerked back, found his voice, and screamed.

…

At the house everyone heard the scream. Collin was the first one out the door, vaulting across the yard and easily leaping the fence, with Fox and Grey on his heels. Luke’s scent was easy to follow, it was heavy with fear and tainted with blood, and the urgency to find his brother had Collin’s blood pumping and his heart hammering. He ran through the treeline and just stopped himself from slamming into his brother who was running out.

Collin slid to a stop and grabbed Luke’s shoulders, turning the frightened boy toward him. “Luke!” he gasped. There was blood on Luke’s lips and chin, and his hand was coated in blood. His clothing was in disarray from falling, covered in dirt and mud, and blood from a scraped knee. “What happened? You okay?”

“A wolf--” he gasped out. “There’s a wolf!”

Collin frowned, pulling Luke into a hug as he looked over his shoulder. He saw a black shadow moving slowly, purposely through the trees, and swallowed a growl. He rubbed Luke’s shaking back before pulling him forward and leading him away from the trees. “Come on, it’s safe.”

Fox and Grey jogged by them, following the shadow. “Come out!” Fox barked when he saw a shadow slipping away. He stood over where Luke had fallen, he could smell blood, fear, and the deer. From the trees came the wolf, larger than any dog or wild wolf, with sleek black fur and piercing unnatural blue eyes. When the wolf slinked near him, Fox raised his hand and smacked it across the muzzle. The wolf growled, hair raising and bearing its teeth, but it hunched down in submission.

Grey stood back, waiting until Fox passed by him, heading back toward the house, before he stepped out with a sigh. “Raven?” he called out. “What the hell were you thinking?”

Back at the house Collin had Luke sit on the coffee table while he went to get the first-aid kit. “So what happened?” he asked as he cleaned up the blood on Luke’s hand. His palm was scraped and there were cuts on his arm, but it didn’t look that bad once he cleaned it up.

“I’m stupid, that’s what happened,” Luke said as he pressed a towel against his mouth. He licked at the bite on his lip as salty tears ran down his face. “I’m so fucking stupid.”

Collin rubbed the back of Luke’s neck. He couldn’t fault his brother. Collin felt the call from the forest every moment of every day, the urge to come here, change, and be free from the world. ‘Call to the wild,’ as Grey liked to call it. “It was pretty stupid,” he agreed lightly. “Didn’t you ever learn to not go into the forest alone?”

Luke glared his at his brother. “I saw a deer. I wanted… I guess I wanted to see it close up. But that--that was a wolf, wasn’t it?”

“Roll up your pant-leg,” Collin said after bandaging Luke’s hand and wrist. 

“Wasn’t it?” he asked again as he did as requested. 

“I didn’t see it,” Collin said as he wiped up the blood. “Your going to need to change your shirt.”

“I bet I have something you can wear,” Fox said as he walked in the kitchen door. He was pissed, it was shining in his eyes, but when he looked at Luke he immediately cooled off. He didn’t need to scare the boy anymore than he already was. “Come on.”

Collin cleaned up as the two went upstairs, but when he heard voices coming from the front yard he stormed through the house and out the door. Grey was walking toward the house with another teenager. Raven was taller than Collin, lithe and lean, with long, straight black hair with red ochre skin. Raven’s dark blue eyes twinkled in amusement in Collin growled in his chest and the whites of his eyes bled black.

“You asshole!” Collin snarled as crossed the yard in long strides. Raven was in nothing but black shorts, and his skin was still hot from his change. Collin could smell the wilderness coming off him, the heavy magic of werewolf, and the tangy scent of blood. He curled his hand into a fist, ready to launch himself at the other boy, when Grey leaped between them.

“Collin, chill--” Grey pleaded, only to be shoved out of the way and to the ground.

“You could have killed him!” Collin continued to shout. He shoved his hands against Raven’s chest, but the other boy didn’t move. He growled back, showing his teeth. “What were you fucking thinking?”

“I was hunting,” Raven finally answered. He avoided another shove, stepping back. “Your brother obviously needs a babysitter if he’s going to just wonder into the woods all alone with the monsters.”

Grey felt a ping of guilt in his chest as he stood. “I left him for just a second.”

Collin threw a warning scowl at the other boy before rounding back on Raven. Raven tilted his chin up, his blue eyes dark and his mouth turned into a belittling grin. He finally stepped back and let out a heavy breath. “We need to get along while he’s here. So let’s just… fucking drop this.”

Raven frowned. “Why?” When Collin only frowned at him, Raven continued, “Oh, you mean I was right?”

“I’m not saying that.”

“But I was,” Raven said as looked to the house. “Little brother’s a werewolf, too. Have you told him?”

“Of course not,” Collin said. 

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want to scare him,” Collin answered. “We need to get him into the pack first, and then, when it’s closer to his first change, we’ll figure out a way to tell him.”

Grey, tentatively, suggested, “Raven, go and get dressed. I’ll go bring the food in, and Collin, set the table. Okay?”

They walked back to the house together and went their separate ways. Upstairs Fox was trying hard to talk to Luke, who seemed to be incredibly anxious around him, and it wasn’t just a result of the attack in the forest. Fox was a young alpha, he knew his alpha-vibes were not strong enough to make Luke as nervous as he was. Maybe Luke was just an anxious and shy person? 

He sifted through his closet until he found an old red hoodie that's too small for him. He turned to Luke, who was standing away from him and looking at a mostly reconstructed owl skeleton on the desk. “Luke, try this one on.”

Luke turned around and caught the hoodie as it was tossed his way. “Thanks,” he said as he tugged off his dirty and bloody t-shirt and pulled on the hoodie. It was well-worn and very soft. The red was a bit faded, and there were white stars on it. “Thanks,” he said as he smoothed it out. He glanced back at the bones. “Is this um, for school?”

“Extra credit for anatomy class,” Fox said. 

“So did you like, go out and find a dead owl?” Luke asked as he reached down to touch one of the bones.

“Yeah, there’s always something dead around here. Then I had to clean it and strip of it’s flesh and feathers and everything,” he explained. “Sometimes I still find a feather in here. I learned to do it outside.”

Luke laughed. “I can’t imagine that it smelled great, either.”

“No, it smelled fucking awful,” Fox said with a little chuckle. “You doing okay?”

“I think so,” Luke said quietly. His adrenaline rush had worn down, he wasn’t shaking anymore or feeling nearly as scared. His leg and his hand hurt, and he was trying very hard not to bite his lower lip and make it bleed again. He shoved his hands in the hoodie’s pockets and turned to Fox. “Do you have any idea why my brother brought me out here today?”

Fox frowned and tilted his head. “I don’t understand.”

“I just… I just don’t know why I’m here,” Luke confessed. “You guys are obvious his family. So why did he bring me out here? I don’t know you guys. We aren’t friends.”

Fox nodded as realization dawned on him. “That doesn’t mean we can’t all be friends. Would that be so bad?”

“We have nothing in common,” Luke pointed out. “Well, other than my brother.”

 _Oh, we have more in common than you know._ “You don’t know that for sure,” Fox said. 

“I think I do,” Luke argued. “I’m sure this is just… some weird fluke. I doubt I’ll be out here ever again.”

“You know, Collin, he’s been through a lot over the last few years,” Fox said as he sat down. “You know that as well as I do. He’s just needed time to figure things out, figure himself out. You two used to be really close, right? Maybe he just wanted to be close to you again.”

“Why?” he asked quietly.

 _He’s not scared of me,_ he realized, _he’s scared of us all, because he’s lonely, and he thinks we’ll just abandon him like Collin did. Goddammit._ “Because he’s a good brother?” Fox suggested. “And we’re all awesome people.”

Luke laughed. “I bet you are.”

“I think dinner is ready,” Fox said as he stood. “Let’s go downstairs.”

The rest of the pack was there and waiting and Fox was relieved when he saw that Collin and Raven were both in one piece. Raven stood in the kitchen with Grey, wearing jeans and a black t-shirt that hugged his slender frame. He turned to look at them, his blue eyes scanning over Luke from top to bottom, before turning away.

“That’s Raven,” Fox said, as if introductions were even necessary. 

Luke glanced at the other boy, who didn’t acknowledge him, before turning to join his brother who directed him to sit. Once the table was filled with food, and everyone was sitting down, Luke sat back and watched as the group filled their plates and talked amongst themselves. Only when Collin nudged him with his elbow did Luke look up.

“Eat, you’re way too thin,” Collin encouraged.

“You keep acting like you’re my mom,” he complained even as he stabbed a steak with his fork.

“You have the hair for it,” Grey said with a grin.

“I do not have mom hair,” Collin replied, aghast.

“It’s the figure,” Fox said. “You have mom-hips.”

Collin blushed furiously. “You guys are assholes.”

He listened to them talk while filling his plate and then cutting into his food. He looked up to Raven, who was sitting across from him and had remained mostly quiet. He was handsome, really handsome, with straight long hair and very sharp cheekbones and jaw. When Raven looked up to catch him staring, Luke stuttered and clumsily asked him to pass the ketchup.

…

Much later that night Luke sat on the couch in the living room playing video games with Grey, who was sitting on the floor with his back to the couch. They had been playing for the last hour and a half, and so far, Grey had kicked his ass at every game they played. At first it had annoyed Luke, almost to the point that he wanted to give up and walk away, but Grey was just too damn exuberant and honestly, _fun_ to be around, so Luke had come up with a strategy: distract Grey as much as possible in order to beat him. Now Collin was lying on the other side of the couch, watching the game, and helping Luke distract Grey. It mostly consisted of poking the other boy when he was trying to focus and reaching out to flick his ear or ruffle his hair.

Suddenly the couch shifted as Collin stood up, saying he was going to get something to drink from the fridge.

“Grab me the oreos,” Grey requested from the floor.

“You’re a bottomless pit,” Luke said as he hit the buttons on the controller as hard as possible. Surely that would make the gun fire off faster! “Shit!”

“I am a growing child,” Grey reminded him.

“You certainly are a child,” Raven said with a slightly amused tone.

Luke glanced behind him, not realizing that Raven had been standing behind the couch watching them play. One second later he heard his character scream and die.

“You’re dead, Luke,” Grey sang triumphantly as he turned around to flash him a grin.

“Good, I need a break anyway,” Luke said as he feigned irritation. He stretched and walked around Grey and the sleeping dogs and into the kitchen where Collin was drinking down an energy drink. “You’re never going to sleep tonight.”

He laughed. “This isn’t anything new for me.”

Luke glanced at the time and then leaned back against the kitchen counter. He saw the package of oreos sitting there and immediately grabbed a couple. “So…are we going home tonight?”

Collin looked surprised. “Oh, well I wasn’t planning on it. Do you care if we spend the weekend?”

Luke looked up in surprise. “The _whole_ weekend?”

“Do I ever come home on weekends?” He asked with a grin.

He realized that was true. “But we didn’t bring any extra clothes.”

“Do you want to go home? I’ll take you—“

“No,” he quickly interrupted. “I definitely don’t want to go home.”

That made Collin smile, and he checkmarked a tiny box in his mind for the win. If Luke was miserable he would want to go home and hide in his bedroom. Like a shy little wolf pup. Which he was. “I bet we can find you something.”

“Pajamas? You can borrow something from me,” Grey said as he walked into the kitchen and leaned around Luke to grab the cookies. He popped one into his mouth and leaned back against the counter. 

“Okay,” Luke said with a warm flush. He shifted ever so slightly to put a couple inches between the two of them. “That’s cool, thanks.”

Grey smiled down at him. The boy was cute. He’d never really noticed it before, Luke spent most of his time with his head down and not talking to anyone. After talking to Fox, and learning that Luke was incredibly lonely, Grey’s chest hurt and he couldn’t help but slightly resent Collin for not bringing him around sooner. Even if Luke had somehow not turned out to be a werewolf, it wasn’t fair to cut him out of his life. They were family. 

“I’ll call Mary, tell her we won’t be home,” Collin said. Normally he wouldn’t bother, but since he had Luke with him, he had no doubt that his parents would call the police and come looking for them. “Go find something to wear from Grey and give me your dirty pants, I’ll throw them in the wash with your t-shirt. If Mary sees any of that blood she’ll flip her shit.”

Luke’s eyes widened slightly. “She would so freak the hell out,” he said, and the realization made him start somewhat. He looked at the bandages on his hand and his arm. “I’ll need to hide this, too.”

“Don’t worry about it tonight,” Collin said. 

Grey bumped shoulders with Luke before leading him through the living room and down the far hallway. There were doors to two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a storage closet under the stairs. Luke frowned as he looked around, wondering if Fox’s uncle’s bedroom was upstairs.

“This is a big house,” Luke said as he stepped into Grey’s bedroom.

“Big and old,” Grey said as he turned on a lamp. His bedroom was busy and messy, the walls covered in posters and art, there was a drum set in one corner, and a small cluttered desk in the other. His twin-sized bed was covered in fluffy blankets and pillows. There was a large dreamcatcher hanging in one corner and some houseplants on top of his dresser, just under one of the windows. Grey went over to his dresser and opened it and grabbed a pair of pajama pants. They were pink and black plaid.

“How about these?” he asked, tossing them to Luke.

They were going to be too big, but they were soft and warm. He chewed his lip for a second before giving himself a shake, told himself to stop being so shy, and slowly stripped out of his jeans. Grey turned away, going to sit on the bed and picked up a magazine.

“So, are you having fun?” he asked.

Luke tightened the drawstring on the pants to keep them up on his hips. He folded his jeans and draped them over his arm. “Yeah,” he said before he nervously sat down on the bed as well. “I mean, other than almost ending up lunch for a wolf.”

Grey laughed. “At least it wasn’t a skunk.”

He nodded. “You aren’t wrong.” He looked around, his attention going to a bunch of photos tacked to a corkboard. There were pictures of the three when they were obviously quite younger. “You guys have been together a long time, huh?”

Grey tilted his head. Luke was part of the pack now, and he didn’t want to lie to him. But he also couldn’t tell him the entire truth, either. “Yeah, ever since Fox and Raven found me.”

“Found you?” Luke asked, turning to him. “What does that mean?”

He cleared his throat. “I was um, homeless,” he said as he picked at the skin around his fingernails. “It’s a long, complicated, boring story. But basically I was out on my own, when I was really young, and they found me and took me in. That’s a um, massive secret, okay? No one outside of this house knows that.”

Luke’s mouth was open in a surprised ‘oh’ and there was a sadness in his lavender eyes. “I won’t, I promise,” he insisted. “I’m-I’m really glad you found a place to live. That’s so sad you had to go through that. Are you like, okay?”

That made Grey smile and caused his cheeks to stain pink. “You’re adorable.”

Luke wrinkled his nose. “You say a lot of weird things.”

“It’s a weird household.”

…

Fox took full advantage of Luke going with Grey and Raven retreating to his bedroom and had immediately swept Collin up into a wet kiss and had pressed him back against the refrigerator door. Collin’s fingers were buried in his hair, his nails scraping against his scalp as Fox ravished his willing mouth. 

When his mate left out a soft, throaty moan, Fox pressed against him harder, trapping him against the appliance behind him. He left one hand pressed against the door, and the other groped Collin’s waistband and belt. He could smell Collin’s arousal, sweet and alluring and pure temptation.

Collin gasped when Fox abandoned his mouth to bite his neck. “Fuck,” he panted. “We need to slow down.”

“We don’t,” he argued as he rubbed the front of Collin’s impossibly tight jeans. He bit harder and Collin yelped.

“They could come back any second,” he reminded the other boy. He dropped his hands from Fox’s now messy hair to his chest, attempting to push him back. The stubborn alpha refused to even budge and only pressed against him harder. When Fox’s hand squeezed him, he whined.

“Then come up to the bedroom,” he growled. He bit him again, on the shoulder this time, more forcefully.

Between the tone and the bite, anyone else would have submitted, but Collin wasn’t one to go belly-up, not even for his boyfriend and alpha. Instead he growled and bit back, but his bite was sharp and nipped the skin, making Fox jerk back.

Fox rubbed the stinging spot on his neck. “Ouch.”

“Then listen,” Collin said as he smoothed out his shirt and zipped up his pants. He hadn’t realized how close Fox had been to getting his hand in them. He glanced through the living room and a few seconds later Grey appeared, Luke just behind him. He cleared his throat, “How about we watch a movie?”

Fox frowned but didn’t argue, instead going to the living room and dropping into the couch. Grey, smelling the air, glanced between the two. Tension and arousal, scents that usually hung around the alpha pair. Fox wanted submission and Collin refused, which constantly irritated the young alpha. Grey really hoped they worked out their problems or he’d be the target during the next full moon.

Being the pack’s omega really sucked.

After Raven joined them, he and Luke took the accent chairs, and Grey stretched out on the floor with the dogs; Collin and Fox, seemingly over there little tiff, curled up on the couch together. 

Luke couldn’t help but notice how incredibly _comfortable_ everyone was together, even Raven who hadn’t said more than a couple words and frowned at Grey whenever he got too close, was fine when Fox would get close to him or touch him. Now the reclusive boy was sitting with a blanket and book, quietly reading and not watching the movie, but he was there just the same, part of the group. Grey was lying on the floor and when Collin reached down and ran his fingers through the boy’s mess of black and white hair, had nearly purred at the contact.

Then there was Collin, lying on the couch with Fox spooned up behind him. Luke couldn’t imagine how that would be comfortable, but both seemed pretty content. He had sensed some tension earlier, but whatever it was was gone now, and the two were happily cuddling together.

Luke shifted in the chair. He had kicked off his shoes and pulled his legs up; the chair was pretty big and he was able to curl up easily. He was just thinking he needed a blanket when one appeared next to him, hanging from Raven’s outstretched hand.

“Oh,” he said in surprise before taking it. “Thanks.”

As expected, he said nothing, only nodded and went back to reading.

After curling up under the blanket Luke found that no matter how hard he tried to stay awake, he was being lulled to sleep. He felt warm, and strangely he felt _safe_. He should be uncomfortable and anxious, but instead he just felt secure, like nothing bad would happen here with these people, who other than Collin were basically strangers. But they didn’t feel strange, the more he was with them, the more he felt like maybe he belonged here.

He fell asleep thinking that was foolish, that he belonged nowhere, but a quiet dream of nameless, faceless wolves in a family pack with no blood or horror challenged to change his mind.

“They’re all out,” Grey whispered with a laugh. The movie was over and only he and Fox were still awake. 

Fox yawned as he sat up. He looked at Raven and Luke, asleep in the chairs and under blankets, and Collin who was stretched out on the couch. “I’ll let them use my bed,” Fox said. 

“You can crash with me,” Grey offered as he stood.

“Thanks.” He pressed his lips against Collin’s cheek. “Collin, wake up.”

Grey meanwhile went to wake Raven, which only took a soft touch to his shoulder. He stepped back as Raven sat up, and stepped over to Luke. He looked so cute, curled up under Raven’s favorite quilt (which made him feel a little jealous) and he almost didn’t want to wake him. 

But he also didn’t want him waking up alone, so he knelt down and touched his knee. “Luke?”

Luke woke with a little snort and sat up in surprise, blinking rapidly at Grey. He looked around while rubbing at his eyes. “What time is it?”

“Really late,” Grey said with a grin. 

Collin sat up, sharing a soft kiss with Fox, before he stood and yawned. “Come on,” he said motioning to his brother. “We’re going to sleep in Fox’s bed upstairs.”

Luke stood, leaving the blanket on the chair, and smiled nervously at Grey before stepping around him. He followed Collin upstairs, which was pitch black and quiet. They went through the first door on the right and Luke stood in the shadows of the bedroom, only lit by soft moonlight shining through the open window. He watched as Collin went and dropped onto the bed with an _umph_.

“So Fox doesn’t care?” he asked as he circled around to the other side, but instead he stood at the window, looking out into the trees. The sky was clear and black, speckled with stars, and the moon was just half. The trees were black, heavy with shadows and secrets, and he was sure he saw something big moving just inside the treeline. Was it the wolf? Or something bigger? What kind of--

“Rawr!”

Luke let out a shriek as Collin jumped at him and tickled his ribs. He stumbled and whirled around, eyes wide and hand clasped over his chest. “You asshole!” he yelled.

Collin dropped back onto the bed, howling with laughter. “That was hilarious!”

“It was not--!” Luke snapped back as he leaned over, trying over calm his pounding heart. “Are you trying to kill me?”

“If I wanted to kill you, I’d take you out into the woods first,” Collin said from where he was lying, a devious smile on his face. 

“You’re such a dick,” he said as he straightened up. “I’m gonna--go sleep on the couch!”

“Fox is sleeping on the couch.”

He stopped just short of the door and turned back, scowling at his brother. “You do that again--”

“I’m not going to do it again,” Collin said, but there was a sly look in his dark eyes. “Cross my heart.”

Seeing he had no other choice, Luke went and laid down. “Seriously, don’t do it again.”

“Seriously, don’t do it again,” Collin repeated in a mocking voice.

Luke wrinkled his nose in frustration. “I don’t know why you have so many friends when you’re so annoying.”

Stretching out on his back, Collin laughed. “You and me both.”

Luke slowly laid down. The sheets smelled clean, like laundry detergent and dryer sheets, and he wondered if Fox had changed them before they came up here. He yawned tiredly and stared at his brother, who was covered in soft moonlight, which made his nearly white hair glow. He yawned again.

“I guess your friends are annoying, too,” he finally said.

Collin turned his head to look at him. “So are you. Must be why they like you so much.”

He started somewhat in surprise. “They… they like me?”

“Yeah,” he said with a gentle smile. “Didn’t you get that impression?”

He frowned thoughtfully. He was growing tired incredibly fast, and struggling to keep his eyes open. “Why?”

Collin waited, watching as Luke blinked once, then twice, and then he didn’t open his eyes again. With a little sigh he sat up, pulling the blankets up over the two of them, before he settled down in bed. He reached out and gently tucked a lock of golden hair behind Luke’s ear. “Because we’re all the same here,” he said quietly, before he rolled over and buried his face in Fox’s pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I added "alpha and omega" to the tags, but I want to specify that is not an ABO fic, when I say alpha and omega with these werewolves, I'm literally describing their place in the pack. This doesn't mean that there aren't things like heat cycles, and alpha wolves using their scent and energy to control the others in the pack, but there isn't any of the typical ABO stuff. Sorry if that's what you were looking for. I'm sure there are a lot of great other werewolf stories on AO3 that do include that :) I hope you stick around to read anyway!


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